Fires of Hell
by Miss-L-Fox
Summary: Leon rode out against the Great Dragon knowing full well that he would not be returning, but he was not expecting such a painful end. Now his mind is playing tricks on him, because there is no way a dragon would bow to a mere man. Prequel to A Letter from the Dead. Part 1 of the Guardians of Emrys Series!


AN: so this story takes place before a Letter from the Dead but can be read as a free standing fic. I will be posting the first sequel to A Letter from the Dead, which by vote will be Aithusa first. That one should hopefully be up by the end of the week, but I just wanted to write this one first for fun. Anyway, I don't own Merlin, never have and never will… Though I will say, wasn't anyone else curious how the hell Leon rode out with Arthur and Merlin against the dragon, Arthur and Merlin were the only ones to come back and then Leon just shows up in the next season? I swear he is just incapable of dying!

* * *

Leon couldn't help it, he stared at the servant, then turned his astonished gaze to Arthur. There was no reason to bring a _servant_ on a mission like this. They were going to face a DRAGON! There was no way even Arthur would bring his servant to face a dragon unarmed and without armor. This thought brought Leon up short, if Arthur didn't order Merlin to come along… that meant the boy was coming by choice! Blue eyes met his and Leon was shocked by the sheer determination that lay within them. Merlin was coming, and no force on Earth would be able to stop him from doing so.

Arthur led them as they rode out of the city and into the forest for their final stand, for that is all it could be. Every man in that company knew there was no returning from this, they would die in this battle, but they would die by the side of their prince. They formed their ranks in a clearing and waited.

Night fell and the horses grew as anxious as their riders as the sound of wings filled the air. Leon's eyes searched the sky, it wasn't hard to spot the massive beast floating toward them. Instinctively his grip tightened and he could hear feel his heart beat as it hammered against his chest. This is what it felt like to stare death in the eyes.

"Hold!" Arthur's voice rang out among the near panicking, keeping them grounded. Then they split apart as the dragon landed. Leon nearly broke formation as his king was knocked off his horse, but training made him keep his horse moving, leading the circle.

That was when the dragon turned its focus on the knights still astride their horses. Leon learned then what hell would feel like. The dragon's mouth opened and flames spewed from its lips. The entire world was on fire and there was nothing he could do. The sensation of falling barely made it through the pain and he could hear his fellow men's dying screams as they were cooked alive like a pig for a royal feast.

The dragon was giving a triumphant roar as the flames dimmed. Leon's world was swimming in color and sound, and he knew that this would be how he died. The next sound that filled the clearing was not dragon, but not human. It was words, but not any Leon had heard in his life. He worked through the pain to turn his head. A small, shadowed figure stood before the dragon who simply stared at the… man? The world faded darker but Leon was transfixed. The voice faded and the great beast lowered it's head to the much smaller figure.

Then began the voice. Leon's eyes sought who was making it before the realization settled, it was the beast itself. It was speaking. He vaguely wondered if this was just some vision before death, a passing fantasy to give him peace, that something so small could defeat the dragon. The world blurred away for a moment before the gust of wind had his eyes flashing open again. When he had closed his eyes he had no idea, but the sight that met him was an empty clearing, well not empty. The knights and horses still lay where they had fallen, but no giant reptile was there to devour them.

His eyes lazily sought out his prince. A blurred figure was the only one standing, but the man did not shine the way chain mail did. The man turned toward a sparkling figure on the ground as they slowly sat up. Fog lapped at the edges of Leon's vision as a laugh of triumph filled the silent woods. Then the tall figure began walking towards the fallen knights.

Leon fought through the blackness that threatened to take hold as the figure began to check each of Leon's fallen comrades. Whispered words floated to the knight, but what was said he couldn't make out. Then the figure was above him. Leon's eyes stared at the shadowy man above as they slowly came into focus. He still could not make out what the boy was whispering but the face above him became clearer. Merlin was gazing at what Leon knew was his ruined body and for the briefest moments he saw the raven haired man's eyes flash gold before the blackness engulfed him completely.

* * *

"Sir Leon? Can you hear me?" A voice called out through the peace of unconsciousness. Leon's eyes blinked open to find a room far brighter than he expected.

"Am I dead?" he asked, his voice coming out a crackling whisper.

"No, most certainly not. A bit worse for wear but it could have been far worse." The head knight's eyes found Gaius as he was bustling around the bed. The old man leaned over the knights face to look into his eyes, "A rather hard hit to the head and some burns, but overall quite alright. You were quite lucky. Your horse must have thrown you before the fire began. You were the only one besides Arthur and Merlin that managed to survive. Here," the physician placed an arm behind Leon's back and helped him to sit up, "drink this, it will help." Leon complied to find water laced with herbs.

"What… happened?" he asked, bits of blurry memories flashing through his mind.

"Arthur managed to kill the dragon," Gaius answered, eyebrow raising as if to say 'obviously'.

"But… I remember… there was no way I could have survived that, there was flame everywhere… and that man he spoke with the dragon!" Leon's voice was slightly frantic and he watched Gaius's eyebrow climb higher.

"Well, burns can tend to cause enough pain to seem far worse that they are, while you sustained some substantial burns, they are not nearly enough to prove fatal. As for the man, with the amount of pain you were in, not to mention the hit to the head with the fall from your horse, it would not surprise me that your memories of the events that took place shortly after were clouded by pain and are very likely to seem more fantastic than the events that did happen." The physician's explanation was calm and unjudging as Leon's mind raced. Could it be that all he had seen and heard was in his head, or an exaggeration of the things that truly happened?

The image of Merlin leaning over him with glowing eyes appeared in his mind and he realized that is all it could have been. He wondered how he didn't realize it at the time, but he hadn't been in his right mind right? Merlin ordering a dragon away… that would be impossible. The memories were so dark and foggy they were hard to piece together, which made the physician's explanation seem even more true.

"Oh, he's awake!" Leon turned to find Merlin walking through the door with a bucket of water. The dark haired boy wore his carefree, innocent smile as he approached the bed, "Welcome back Sir Leon!" Leon knew for sure then that he had imagined it all. There was no way that Merlin had magic.

End for this one

Alright all, so tell me what you think and things you'd like to see. See you all next time!


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